The Knowledge Web
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History.
Some assembly required.
Q
How was
Napoleon
important to the
development
of the modern
computer?
Welcome to the home page of the James Burke Institute for Innovation in Educationand its flagship project, the Knowledge Web.
Founded by James Burke, the author, host, and narrator of the acclaimed television series Connections, the Institute exists to encourage innovative uses of educational technology.
The Knowledge Web today is an activity rather than a web site—an expedition in time, space, and technology to map the interior landscape of human thought and experience. Thanks to the work of a team
of dedicated volunteers, it will soon be an interactive space on the web where students, teachers, and other knowledge seekers can explore information in a highly interconnected, holistic way that allows for an almost infinite number of paths of exploration among people, places, things, and events.
We invite you to share the excitement of both the Institute and the Knowledge Web by browsing this site, and we encourage
you to participate in the adventure of mapping the landscape of historical and scientific knowledge and to become a user of the Knowledge Web when it is complete.
A
Napoleon’s troops
in Egypt buy
shawls and start
a fashion craze.
In Europe the
shawls get made
on automated,
perforated-paper
control looms.
This gives an
American engineer
Herman Hollerith
the idea to automate
calculation using
punch cards.
Which get used to
control ENIAC,
the first electronic
computer.